What's New?

We have some exciting news to share! In an effort to help make fundraising more fun, more accessible and ultimately easier, we’ve added a new application to the Extra Life experience. Now you can fundraise through our mobile app made possible by a grant from the ESA Foundation!

Extra Life Mobile App
Manage and share your Extra Life experience on the go with our new Extra Life mobile app. This free app lets you fundraise and connect with others through SMS, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Email. You can update your Extra Life page and check your fundraising progress all from the palm of your hand. Learn more in our best practices section!

Download the app here: iPhone | Android

We’ve also spent the last couple of months improving the mobile experience on the Extra Life website so give the new apps a try. We want to hear what you think so send any feedback and ideas to community@extra-life.org or comment below and let us know!
For The Kids,

Pribi joins Sean, and Arakiel in Dub-Lin travel out into the Fey Wild and encounter some of its strange wildlife while searching for the missing daughter of Mayor Grimfast.

We Wanted Adventurers is a liveplay Dungeons & Dragons podcast that follows a motley trio of unlikely heroes as they bumble into adventures both big and small across the fantastical continent of Nevarrone. For the uninitiated, a liveplay podcast features an unscripted recording of a traditional tabletop roleplaying game, with all of the goofs and drama that comes with the territory.

Despite the divisive release of No Man's Sky that saw user numbers plummet rapidly, accuse Hello Games of false advertising, and scathing critiques, Sean Murray and his team have been hard at work over the past three years improving the game with free updates for a hopeful base of remaining fans. Recently, Murray revealed the next free expansion to No Man's Sky. Titled Beyond, the new, free expansion will expand the multiplayer options for players among other additions and refinements.

Here is a compiled list of some of the biggest changes made to No Man's Sky since its launch:

The Foundation Update allowed players to begin building bases, new game modes, mobile saving, and tweaks to vital aspects like inventory, and limited communication abilities with other players.
Path Finder brought ground vehicles to No Man's Sky, more robust base-building options, and a graphical overhaul.
Atlas Rises brought a new story line to the game, doubling the game's background content, a Stargate-like network of portals for fast travel, overhauled missions, and more.
Then No Man's Sky NEXT released, allowing players to band together in-game for the first time, freed base-building in any location, third-person perspective, and character customization.
The Abyss update allowed players to explore planets with oceans, build bases underwater, interact with a more vibrant ecosystem of marine life, and discover a new oceanic narrative.
Finally, the most recent update, Visions, added archaeology, the ability to salvage ancient technology, and community missions.
The past year has seen Hello Games observing how players are interacting in-game and listening to players. While The Abyss and Visions released with a variety of additions and improvements, more are in store for No Man's Sky Beyond. Beyond will be a compilation of three major, interconnected updates to No Man's Sky.

Due to concerns about overhyping their game, Hello Games has opted to keep much of the information about Beyond under wraps until it becomes finalized. However, the biggest major component of Beyond will be No Man's Sky Online, an overhaul to the online features offered by No Man's Sky. This will, in some ways, turn the game into a true MMO, though Hello Games shies away from the label. It will not have a subscription or microtransactions, but it will support a vast number of players. both the social and multiplayer components of it's online world will get new features and tweaks.

"Beyond will be our most ambitious chapter so far, and something we’ve been working ridiculously hard on. We’ll continue to support No Man’s Sky in this way for the foreseeable future," Sean Murray said in his official announcement. "To some NEXT may have felt like a natural end-point for our journey, but for us it was another step on a longer voyage."

No Man's Sky Beyond will release sometime this summer.

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Google has been slowly moving into gaming for quite some time. Now, the tech giant has decided it will try to break into mainstream gaming with Stadia, its state-of-the-art game streaming platform. Google claims it will offer up to 4K resolution at 60fps, cross-play functionality, and unleash more processing power for devs to play around with than current consoles, in some cases double the capabilities of current premium consoles.

We've known for quite a while that Google has been working on perfecting video game streaming. Late last year, the company offered the public a chance to play around with Project Stream, a closed beta meant to test the platform's capabilities. Project Stream brought gamers into the test by offering to stream Assassin's Creed Odyssey in HD.

It seems that Project Stream's test was successful. Today, Google took the stage at GDC to unveil their full service, Stadia. Stadia runs almost entirely by streaming game data from Google's servers, eliminating the need for a console or PC to play or store games (though a Chromecast dongle will be needed to stream games to a television). When Stadia launches later this year, Google's Phil Harrison claims that it will be able to ensure 4K at a steady 60fps to almost any screen one could imagine. Eventually, Google sees Stadia capable of hitting an 8K resolution at 60fps, according to one of their key visuals from the presentation.

Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone will have internet capable of delivering those resolutions and frames at a smooth clip. At no point during the reveal of Stadia did Google's reps reveal what sort of internet speed gamers would need to maintain a steady streaming experience. On top of that, questions remain about how well Stadia can handle streaming online games. A great deal hinges on whether or not people have access to internet connections capable of supporting Stadia. It's quite possible that the type of performance Google has touted for Stadia will be unreachable for most people looking to get in on game streaming. For comparison, Project Stream required users to have a connection of 15 megabits per second with 40 millisecond latency, though it was only offering 1080p resolutions and still seemed to suffer from occasional hiccups. Whether those issues were the result of untested streaming software or an indication of Stadia's future remains unclear.

Game streaming has been around for quite a while, but it has always occupied a niche space. Notably, services like PlayStation Now and the late OnLive service have offered streaming in recent years, though they have always contended with the issues of internet on both the side of the company and the users. Google claims that the hardware on its end will enable a smooth experience that will make many people believers in the possibilities Stadia holds. They believe they have a system that will allow people to watch a trailer, press a button, and be playing a new game all in a few seconds.

Stadia has been designed to be an incredibly versatile platform. It will work on televisions, tablets, laptops, phones, and PCs. On top of that, it will work with existing controllers attached to laptops or PCs. Google will be releasing its own optional controllers for Stadia, as well. These proprietary controllers connect to Google's streaming centers directly to offer a slightly better response time, the ability to share in-game content to YouTube (livestreaming, clips, and screenshots), and a Google Assistant that will be able to offer advice if players get stuck.

Interestingly, Google seems to be going hard not just into the development of Stadia as a platform, but also into the games it can offer players. According to the announcement, over 100 studios have received Stadia develpment kits. On top of that, Google has founded Stadia Games Entertainment, a studio that will make games exclusive to the streaming platform. One of Ubisoft's most legendary producers, Jade Raymond, will be overseeing Stadia Games & Entertainment to work on its game projects while also bringing new features to third-party games coming to Stadia. So far, the first game revealed to be running on Stadia has been Doom Eternal.

A number of features are made possible by Stadia that are pretty intriguing. Players will be able to do something called "state share," where they are able to save their game at a specific moment in time and then share that with other players or friends via a simple link. Another possibility is called Crowd Play. This would enable players watching a livestream to digitally line up for their chance to control the same game instance and become the streamer, offering a new way for streamers to interact with audiences.

What do you think? Can you embrace an all digital, all remote future for gaming?

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Back in August of 2018, I put together a short campaign with Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition called Dragonguard as a part of Extra Life Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. For Game Day 2018, we released a second set of episodes and followed it up with a third set continuing the adventure. The last series of episodes ended on something of a cliffhanger, and while the full fourth set isn't quite done, at least one more episode is ready for listening! Join Naomi Lugo (Nomsooni the druid), Marcus Stewart (Scratch Mangy the ranger), and Kyle Gaddo (Barphus the bard) as they don the armor of the illustrious Dragonguard, sworn to defend and protect the realm of Alterra from the dragons at its doorstep. Jack Gardner serves as the Dungeon Master, guiding our heroes through their journey.

Dispatched to the small town of Verne, the party began investigating rumors of draconic activity in the area. Learning of a kobold encampment deep within the Morrithil Wastes, they made their way into the vast swampland only to find a largely abandoned village built in the shadow of an ominous dragon skeleton. Encountering a number of old and infirm kobolds in the heart of the town, our heroes learned of an impending attack led by the vengeful dragon, Fallowfell. In an effort to convince Sir Rothurt, Verne's leader, to take the threat seriously, the party made an attempt to rescue his recently kidnapped son, Charles. Risking life and limb, they were able to save Charles only to be met with the awful revelation that Fallowfell had allies in the town itself. Now, Nomsooni, Barphus, and Scratch attempt to consolidate their power in the areas outside of Verne only to find themselves in ever-deepening danger from draconic evils, cunning opportunists, mystical threats, and (of course) themselves.

If you want to get a sense of how great a time tabletop roleplaying can be, you're invited to enjoy the adventure along with us. Here's to the amazing things the gaming community accomplished in 2018 and to the even greater things we will all do together in the years to come! You can listen to the new episodes below or start at the beginning with this handy SoundCloud playlist.

Today, Chet Faliszek, formerly of Valve and Bossa Games, and Dr. Kimberly Voll, a longtime designer at Riot Games, announced that they have formed a new independent game studio called Stray Bombay. The two have given themselves a mission to create projects that simply don't work within most existing studios. They want to make games where artificial intelligence can improve not just enemies but facilitate jolly co-operation and even narrative itself.

Many people haven't heard about Chet Faliszek or Dr. Kimberly Voll by name, but their work is familiar with millions of people around the world. Faliszek was responsible for the creation of Left 4 Dead's stories as well as its sequel and both Portal 1 and 2 along with Erik Wolpaw. Dr. Voll, on the other hand, brings her expertise in AI and designing systems for humans to affably interact with AI. She has spent the last three years at Riot Games as a senior technical designer helping to smooth out the gameplay experience for League of Legends, one of the most played games in the world. She was also instrumental in the creation of Fantastic Contraption, a critically acclaimed VR puzzle title released in 2016 for the HTC Vive.

Both Faliszek and Dr. Voll have come together to take a risk and make gameplay experiences and narratives that aren't possible without AI, what they call "collaborative gaming experiences." Their new Seattle-based studio will carry on with the vision of what Faliszek conceived and began working on at Bossa Games before he and the studio parted amicably to pursue other their respective creative visions. Stray Bombay will also prioritize personal time off so that even when development ramps up, people will be able to step away and properly take care of themselves. It's being founded with the help of Riot Games and venture capitalists.

"As Kim and I talked over the years about the kind of games we want to make, we realized we want to create games that give players a place to breathe and live in the moment," Faliszek explained in the announcement on the studio's new website, referencing a letter he received from a soldier in Afghanistan who thanked him for saving his marriage with the game. "Games that tell stories knowing you are going to come back again and again, that change each time you play them without feeling completely random, and that help you feel like a real team that supports each other... not a bunch of folks in each other’s way. And where AI drives not just the enemies but helps drive the entire experience."

According to a statement made to PC Games Insider, the project Stray Bombay will be tackling already has a working prototype running on Unity and Unreal Engine. Despite that, don't expect to see this AI-driven experience anytime soon. After they fill the several open positions at the studio, something they will likely be able to do during GDC itself, they plan to go dark and buckle down to bring this dream to life. "We know the direction we're going," Chet said as he laid out the plan going forward. "As people join the team, that'll help find the game more clearly. We're very iterative, everyone is a designer, everyone participates in the process. [...] Obviously, we have a plan, there's a framework that we can hang it all off, but everyone will be able to express themselves and have an impact."

AI has the potential to improve human life in a lot of ways, but just how it could improve the narrative experience in games hasn't been explored in as much depth as one might think. What Dr. Voll and Faliszek are undertaking might change how games tell stories going forward. Imagine a roguelike adventure overseen by something akin to Left 4 Dead's AI Director, only not just enemies, but the story itself unfolds in response to player choices and actions. That could be a game changer in the industry and break down the longstanding barrier between liner and open narrative design in a way unlike anything before. We will have to wait and see.

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Turtle Rock Studios has revealed that they are in the process of creating a co-operative first-person shooter named Back 4 Blood in a partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive. Not many details have been announced, but we've compiled everything that you need to know right here.

Left 4 Dead was created by Valve South back in 2008. The studio had formerly been known as Turtle Rock Studios, but was purchased by Valve in the same year due to the success of Counter-Strike: Source, which Turtle Rock had developed for Valve. The game was incredibly well received for the variable spawning of enemies that responded to how well players were doing. This AI Director meant that each playthrough of a Left 4 Dead level would be a slightly different and continually challenging experience. Due to the co-op focus and tight gameplay, over 11 million copies of the game were sold between its launch and 2011. 2011 saw Turtle Rock separate from Valve and begin working on Evolve, a 2015 multiplayer shooter pitting players against a player-controlled monster. Evolve didn't do well for a lot of reasons, but the game itself was enjoyable. The studio dedicated two years after the game's launch to turning it around, but nothing ever quite stuck. It makes sense, then, that the team is going back to one of the works that helped put the studio on the map: Left 4 Dead.

Of course, Back 4 Blood is not Left 4 Dead 3. Turtle Rock Studios is very careful to clarify that this is not the long awaited sequel to the popular co-op zombie shooter. Instead it is an entirely original co-op zombie shooter that brings many elements that were never present in Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2. What exactly those new elements might be, the studio declined to clarify. However, they hinted that they are bringing the design lessons they've learned over the years and seeing what they can do with the framework of a co-op zombie shooter with modern tech. They seem confident that they will be able to stand out from the pack with what they have in mind for Back 4 Blood.

“We are not resting on any past laurels. Our goal is to take all we’ve learned and push forward. We know that’s a tall order,” said Phil Robb, Turtle Rock Studios' co-founder and current creative director. “We’re growing the team considerably because we’re stepping up to the biggest challenge in this studio’s history. We know this title has to stand out and we fully intend to make that happen.”

Turtle Rock Studios expect to launch the game in the AAA price range of titles, so customers should see it hitting shelves and digital storefronts with a price tag of anywhere from $40-$60. Of course, one of the biggest issues that plagued Evolves launch was the way the game included micro-transactions. The studio didn't say that there would be no micro-transactions this time around, however they did say that they are open to the idea of adding content the community might want post-launch. At the very least it seems like Back 4 Blood is not being designed with micro-transactions in mind.

As for actual gameplay, there will be no Battle Royale-style conflicts. Back 4 Blood will instead focus on co-op and some form of PvP mode, though what form that might take remains a mystery. The game will also include a story-driven campaign of some kind. Given the unique way the narrative played out in Left 4 Dead and Evolve, how that campaign will look is anyone's guess. Chris Ashton, Turtle Rock Studios' co-founder and design director, gushed a little bit about being able to return to the co-op zombie genre they helped begin saying, “It’s hard to overstate what an awesome opportunity this is. We get to return to a genre that was born in our studio with over ten years of additional experience and zombie ideas racked up in our brains."

The announcement was sparse on details as it was designed mostly to begin building a community of excited fans and let professionals across the industry know what Turtle Rock is working on and possibly bring them aboard. However, it's always exciting to see a veteran developer return to their roots after some time away. There's little doubt that the studio will make something incredibly interesting with their skills and dedication. It remains to be seen whether people will flock to what they have to offer as wildly as they once did.

Back 4 Blood will release for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, though the team is open to additional platforms if the opportunities present themselves.

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Today, Microsoft announced that they would be bringing Xbox Live to Android and iOS devices, officially lending its support to the wider world of mobile game development. This move isn't entirely unprecedented. Xbox Live support has been available on mobile before, however it was only included in apps and games developed by Microsoft itself, like Minecraft. This new move will put Xbox Live within reach of any developer who wants to integrate their app or game into the wider Xbox Live ecosystem.

Microsoft initially teased back in February that they might be making an announcement related to mobile soon. The move, revealed today, will allow apps and games across the mobile world to access the suite of services associated with Xbox Live. Developers will be able to use the tools released by Microsoft to connect as many or as few Xbox Life services with their project as needed.

Now we know, thanks to The Verge, the full extent of the program and tools. Microsoft's new mobile development kit (SDK) will enable devs to add Gamerscore, open up clubs, friend lists, and include account family settings. On top of that, developers will be able to implement a single sign-in for Xbox Live and grant devs online protection for their apps and games. The new SDK will come together with Microsoft Game Stack, a collection of tool sets designed to get developers up and running with Microsoft's cloud technology, something the tech giant has been pushing across a wide variety of its services outside of gaming.

A rumor has been going around the industry that Xbox Live integration will also be coming to the Nintendo Switch, though a rep from Microsoft didn't deny that it's in the works. However, even if Xbox Live comes to Nintendo Switch, it's unlikely to make its way onto Sony's flagship platform, the PlayStation 4. Microsoft, for its part, appears to be very willing to partner with companies many might consider to be rivals, but Sony's reticence makes the possible team up all but impossible.

While it might seem like a similar roll out on a rival platform would be impossible, Minecraft on Switch does implement an Xbox Live sign-in. That puts the Switch in a similar position as the mobile market was prior to this announcement. The ability to put Xbox Live on Switch is already out in the wild with Minecraft; all it would take is the okay from Nintendo and some additional fine-tuning of the software for it to work well on Switch. We could very easily see the next battle for gaming supremacy take place not in hardware, but in the realm of software support and service features. If that's the case, Xbox Live just created a huge lead for itself.

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Pulled into a strange, dreamlike town by an inscrutable fey creature, Arakiel and Sean begin acquainting themselves with the odd locals while investigating the disappearance of the mayor's daughter.

We Wanted Adventurers is a liveplay Dungeons & Dragons podcast that follows a motley trio of unlikely heroes as they bumble into adventures both big and small across the fantastical continent of Nevarrone. For the uninitiated, a liveplay podcast features an unscripted recording of a traditional tabletop roleplaying game, with all of the goofs and drama that comes with the territory.

Krafton Game Union, formerly Bluehole, has announced their next upcoming game, a stylish rougue-like RPG named Mistover. With an artstyle reminiscent of indie games like Darkest Dungeon and the dungeon-delving of a JRPG, Mistover definitely should be on your radar for Summer 2019 releases.

Bluehole made a name for itself with the popular MMO Tera and followed it up with the Battle Royale sensation PlayerUnknown's Battle Grounds. Two years ago, they announced a new MMO with steampunk airship combat, Ascent: Infinite Realm, that has yet to release. Last year, it announced a rebranding effort to dub itself Krafton Game Union, a collection of developers that can tackle a wider variety of game projects. The first fruit of that change seems to be Mistover. Mistover represents a scaled back, focused project that appears to be aimed at a more niche audience than typical for MMOs or competitive shooters. It's definitely an exciting and interesting direction for the South Korea-based company.

Mistover takes place in a world ravaged by a mysterious anomaly called the Pillar of Despair. After wiping out most civilizations, the Kingdom of Arta remains standing as the final holdout against total societal collapse. Heroes from across the world gather in the kingdom to band together and survive. In order to learn more about the enemy, Arta forms heroes into corps and sends them into the Pillar of Despair's mists to fight its monsters, discover its treasures, and perhaps even find a way to survive its terrible onslaught.

Described by its creators as a combination of Darkest Dungeon and Etrian Odyssey, surviving in the Pillar of Despair takes quite a bit of strategy and a fair bit of luck. Each foray into the mist poses dangers to the health, sanity, equipment, and supplies of the player's heroes, the potent energies of the Pillar threaten to warp any and everything that it encounters. While adapting to new challenges, players will need to explore new areas in a grid-based expedition mode, fighting only when necessary. Using exploration abilities to keep hidden and obtain loot will be incredibly important during this phase. If, however, combat begins, the turn-based battle system should prove interesting to RPG veterans. While individual characters can perform their own abilities and attacks, choosing the correct formations can allow your heroes to coordinate maneuvers and perform more advanced attacks.

Players will need to assemble their team out of a number of unique classes. These classes include Witch, Shadow Blade, Grim Reaper, Paladin, Ronin, Sister, Werewolf, and Onmyouji. With the right combination and strategies, players will be able to overcome the dangers of each procedurally generated dungeon. With deadly traps, poisoned food, and the ever constant threat of monsters, it'll take everything players have to survive and uncover the secrets of the Pillar of Despair.

It looks similar in style to Darkest Dungeon, which recently announced a sequel. However, the addition of dungeon crawling and some more in-depth RPG mechanics definitely seem to be vital additions to the "gloomy, but beautifully aesthetic roguelike" genre. Also, small touch, but I adore that they named the werewolf character Beo. Beo-wolf, heh. Anyway, seeing this developer shift toward something that's focused on a strong single-player experience rather than the multiplayer chaos of an MMO or Battle Royale definitely has my attention more than something like PUBG 2 or an expansion to Tera might. Here's hoping Krafton's first single-player RPG finds its audience.

Mistover will release on Nintendo Switch and PC later this summer. Those who want to get a preview of what Mistover has in store and are attending PAX East March 28-31 will be able to catch Krafton Game Union at the show for a playable demo.

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

Who is Sam? That's the question at the heart of A Normal Lost Phone a game for PC and mobile devices. Developed by Accidental Queens, A Normal Lost Phone puts players in possession of a phone that they have found on the ground. The game tasks players with using their cyber sleuthing skills to discover who the owner of the phone is and how to get them back their property. The entire thing becomes a literal character study, for better and worse.

Could this mobile indie adventure game about snooping be one of the best games of all-time?

Each week we will be tackling a video game, old or new, that at least one of us believes deserves to stand as one of the greatest games of all time. We'll dive into its history, development, and gameplay, while trying to argue for or against the game of the week. Sometimes we will be in harmonious agreement, other times we might be fighting a bitter battle to the very end. However each episode shakes out, we hope that everyone who listens will find the show entertaining and informative.

Way Deep Down's Half Past Fate aims to combine romantic comedy with the adventure game genre with delightful style. Published by Serenity Forge, the company behind games like Where the Water Tastes Like Wine and The King's Bird, Half Past Fate tells the story of three relationships, some forming within hours and others maturing over years.

"To answer a big question we've been getting, yes you do get to play a very wide cast of characters. Imagine if you mash Love Actually (film) with To the Moon (game), that's pretty much our main inspiration," said Zhenghua Yang, the founder of Serenity Forge. Half Past Fate follows six different characters as their stories interweave with one another, making connections full of joy, comedy, love, and heartbreak. The story is careful to touch on people from all walks of life; Half Past Fate might rely on some rom-com cliches, but it has a few tricks up its sleeve to give those tropes a unique spin.

Half Past Fate takes place in a gorgeous world that combines the classic look of 2D sprites and charming 3D environments that mesh well together. It basically looks like a game following in the endearing aesthetic footsteps of Paper Mario and Octopath Traveler. Way Deep Down conveys the story via text and adorable pixel portraits that do quite a bit of work characterizing the cast of colorful personalities.

It's important to clarify that Half Past Fate doesn't appear to be a dating sim. Instead, it is a structured, linear narrative designed to tell a cohesive story, much like To the Moon. The core conceit of the game aims to show how love takes on many forms and can come out in unexpected, heartfelt, and occasionally hilarious ways. With that central ethos, expect the unexpected, especially if it relates to spilling tea or exploding coffee makers.

With a year of development time under it's belt, Half Past Fate will be making its official debut at PAX East at the Indie Megabooth later this month. PAX East will run from March 28-31, so more information is nearly upon us for this intriguing indie game about romance. If you're going to be at PAX East, be sure to check it out!

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!